Landmarks in Historical Romance
by greendale student
Summary: Annie encounters Abed at the scene of a previous adventure.


The Greendale campus is quiet, the soft light of a warm summer evening painting the grassy lawns a brilliant green. Annie Edison is used to seeing the quad bustling with students, but on a Saturday in the summer she's the only person in sight. She surveys the landscape, thinking fondly of all the adventures she and her friends have had in five seasons—hey, Abed's way of describing their education as a TV sitcom makes perfect sense considering the way there seems to be a new wacky plot every week—at Greendale. Before she enrolled here, Annie would have been appalled to hear how silly the place was, but now she's eagerly looking forward to whatever hijinks the study group gets into in September. At the moment, though, she's enjoying seeing the campus in its mid-vacation state of calm. It's relaxing to walk slowly among the familiar buildings and think with affection of the study group's escapades here.

Annie thinks about going to Study Room F, but when she tries the library door she finds it locked. Instead she walks around the edge of the library, taking a narrow sidewalk next to bushes where little birds chirp. Strolling past a wall lined with tall windows, Annie stops suddenly and looks into the library, realizing where she is. She smiles slightly, remembering the scene next to those windows a few _seasons_ before: Abed stepping closer, Annie's lips meeting his, a deluge of paint from the sprinklers that didn't interrupt their embrace. Then, seeing a reflection in the glass, she spins around, startled.

Abed is standing very quietly on the sidewalk just around the corner, staring at the same set of windows. In his subtle way that Annie has learned to read, he looks just as startled to see her there.

"Abed!" Annie yelps, playing with her hair nervously. "Um—I'm just—I thought you were staying at Rachel's place tonight?" She's suddenly aware of the awkwardness of the situation—she's just run into her platonic roommate, who she thought was with his actual girlfriend, and apparently they've both independently wandered here to contemplate the spot where they kissed in-character in an incident Annie's avoided talking about but somehow manages to think about quite a bit.

Abed nods, now studying her with careful, close attention. "I took a walk here. It's not far from campus. I like it here in the summer. It's like seeing a film set between scenes."

"Oh...right. I guess I like that too. I should, uh, get back to studying for….." Annie trails off, remembering that it's summer and she doesn't have any homework to do. She's sharply aware that Abed knows her well enough to figure out why she's so nervous. When he doesn't immediately bring it up, Annie deduces that he must also be wary of talking about the paintball incident. She realizes that she finds that idea embarrassingly pleasant. _Abed is not Han Solo, and he has a girlfriend!_ Annie reminds herself, as she has many times before.

Abed is looking at her with a stoic expression that doesn't reveal much, head tilted to the side like a curious bird, standing awkwardly in a stiff position as though he's waiting for more data before taking a step. He doesn't look at all like Han Solo at the moment. That doesn't seem to be stopping Annie from staring at him, or from feeling an undercurrent of nervous excitement along with her embarrassment. Maybe Annie should admit that Han Solo isn't really the reason she's felt so thrown off by Abed and Rachel's relationship.

Abed finally takes a step forward, facing Annie without appearing to watch her with such intensity. "Do you want to go see the fountain?" he asks her. "The turtles kind of run the place when there aren't many people on campus."

"Sure," Annie says, forcing her voice to sound casual. She follows Abed along the sidewalk, stealing a glance back at the windows. They're leaving a lot unsaid, but it's stuff they shouldn't be saying while Abed's dating Rachel. Even so, Annie can't help but notice that he showed up here when he was supposed to be watching movies with his girlfriend, and that he asked Annie to stay rather than going back to Rachel's. As they walk towards the fountain, their hands brush together and Annie smiles secretly, wondering if he's thinking about the same things she is.


End file.
